Ricky Martin Video:

Editorial Review:
When it comes down to naming the best Western of all time, the list usually narrows to three completely different pictures: John Ford's The Searchers, Howard Hawks's Red River, and Hawks's Rio Bravo. About the only thing they all have in common is that they all star John Wayne. But while The Searchers is an epic quest for revenge and Red River is a sweeping cattle-drive drama ("Take 'em to Missouri! Yeeee-hah!"), Rio Bravo is on a much more modest scale. Basically, it comes down to Sheriff John T. Chance (Wayne), his sobering-up alcoholic friend Dude (Dean Martin), the hotshot new kid Colorado (Ricky Nelson), and deputy-sidekick Stumpy (Walter Brennan), sittin' around in the town jail, drinkin' black cofee, shootin' the breeze, and occasionally, singin' a song. Hawks--who, like his pal Ernest Hemingway, lived by the code of "grace under pressure"--said he made Rio Bravo as a rebuke to High Noon, in which sheriff Gary Cooper begged for townspeople to help him. So, Hawks made Wayne's Sheriff Chance a consummate professional--he may be getting old and fat, but he knows how to do his job, and he doesn't want amateurs getting mixed up in his business; they could get hurt. This most entertaining of movies also achieved some notoriety in the '90s when Quentin Tarantino (director of Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and Jackie Brown) revealed that he uses it as a litmus test for prospective girlfriends. Oh, and if the configuration of characters sounds familiar, it should: Hawks remade Rio Bravo two more times--as El Dorado in 1967, with Wayne, Robert Mitchum, and James Caan; and as Rio Lobo in 1970, with Wayne, Jack Elam, and Christopher Mitchum. --Jim Emerson

Description of Rio Bravo [Region 2]:
When it comes down to naming the best Western of all time, the list usually narrows to three completely different pictures: John Ford's The Searchers, Howard Hawks's Red River, and Hawks's Rio Bravo. About the only thing they all have in common is that they all star John Wayne. But while The Searchers is an epic quest for revenge and Red River is a sweeping cattle-drive drama ("Take 'em to Missouri! Yeeee-hah!"), Rio Bravo is on a much more modest scale. Basically, it comes down to Sheriff John T. Chance (Wayne), his sobering-up alcoholic friend Dude (Dean Martin), the hotshot new kid Colorado (Ricky Nelson), and deputy-sidekick Stumpy (Walter Brennan), sittin' around in the town jail, drinkin' black cofee, shootin' the breeze, and occasionally, singin' a song. Hawks--who, like his pal Ernest Hemingway, lived by the code of "grace under pressure"--said he made Rio Bravo as a rebuke to High Noon, in which sheriff Gary Cooper begged for townspeople to help him. So, Hawks made Wayne's Sheriff Chance a consummate professional--he may be getting old and fat, but he knows how to do his job, and he doesn't want amateurs getting mixed up in his business; they could get hurt. This most entertaining of movies also achieved some notoriety in the '90s when Quentin Tarantino (director of Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and Jackie Brown) revealed that he uses it as a litmus test for prospective girlfriends. Oh, and if the configuration of characters sounds familiar, it should: Hawks remade Rio Bravo two more times--as El Dorado in 1967, with Wayne, Robert Mitchum, and James Caan; and as Rio Lobo in 1970, with Wayne, Jack Elam, and Christopher Mitchum. --Jim Emerson

Rio Bravo [Region 2] Reviews:
My favorite movie
2009-12-27 - I have seen this movie too many times to count. No clue why. Key players gave great performances. Dean Martin was superb, John Wayne pure John Wayne, and Walter Brennan was wonderful. Pretty obvious that Walter Brennan made Dean Martin crack up in their scenes. Rickey Nelson was a kid when this was made and is showed but he was serviceable. Angie Dickenson looks great and gave a decent performance given her age at the time. Supporting cast well chosen and gave excellent performances. Classic good vs evil with some chuckles tossed in.

Blu Ray quality on this was good. Sharp video. Audio was also good to a great score. Overall I am very satisfied. I had the DVD, but this is my all time favorite so I had to get the Blu Ray.

Review of the Blu-ray version
2009-12-16 - I don't yet own a lot of Blu-ray movies, but of the dozen or so I've watched, this is easily the worst. The transfer seems very grainy and there was literally nothing in the image that seemed to me to be in any way an improvement on the DVD version. So, if you already have the DVD version, I would see little point in buying this one.

With respect to the movie itself, like most other reviewers, I find this to be one of John Wayne's best films. I would not, however, put it up there with the truly classic westerns because of the presence of Ricky Nelson. In the latter part of Wayne's career, he apparently liked to include a young star in the film, presumably to appeal to younger filmgoers who might not be attracted to an aging Duke. I assume that this was a good box office strategy, and sometimes, as with Glenn Campbell's more than serviceable performance in "True Grit," it didn't significantly damage the movie. But not here. Ricky Nelson is unbelievably bad. Literally, the worst actor to ever appear in a major movie. (He also managed to nearly capsize the otherwise excellent Jack Lemon film "The Wackiest Ship in the Army.") It's not difficult to see why his film career came to an early end. The problem with having a truly awful actor in a movie is that it makes it difficult to suspend disbelief. You always end up being distracted by thoughts like, "Did Howard Hawks really believe he could coach a decent performance out of this stiff?" There is a sharp contrast between Ricky Nelson and Dean Martin, who came to fame, of course, as a singer and straight man for Jerry Lewis. In this movie, Martin shows that he was an excellent actor.

If I'm allowed one more carp: I think it would have been better to have cast a somewhat older actress in the Angie Dickinson part. The age gap between Angie and the Duke makes their romance less plausible than it would have been with a more mature actress in the part.

The strength of the performances by Wayne, Martin, and Walter Brennan, and the brilliance of the script are enough to overcome these problems, though, and make this an enjoyable film. One that is, of course, indispensable for John Wayne fans.

A Great Western
2009-12-13 - Instead of giving away the entire story, let me just say don't miss this movie. This is a great John Wayne movie and Dean Martin's best performance. Add the unforgettable Walter Brennan & a good performance by a young Ricky Nelson and you have the perfect movie for a Saturday afternoon with the family. Enjoy.

Great in Blu-Ray
2009-10-26 - This BluRay edition of Rio Bravo gives you so much more realism. The great individual characters are appreciated much more because the depth of their performance is seen more clearly (facial expressions, etc.). This is a great fun Howard Hawks - John Wayne western with a spectacular cast of supporting players, with the possible exception of Ricky Nelson, who actually does an OK job. Once you know that his part ('Colorado') was considered for Elvis Presley (Elvis had joined the army and was stationed in Germany by the time filming began) and that Montgomery Clift turned down the same role; you're left wondering, "What if...". Color, picture, and sound are excellent in this edition.

Great movie. good but not great Blu-ray
2009-10-19 - Rio Bravo: I give the actual movie four and a half stars. John Wayne is at his best and yes, Dean Martin can act. Walter Brennan is a hoot and Angie Dickinson? Grrroowrrr! The extras give a great deal of insight into the making of this classic western. As with The Searchers, there's a lot more going on beneath the surface than there appears. Many, for instance, don't realize Rio Bravo is a stern rebuttal to another classic western, High Noon.

I give the video quality three stars. The video transfer on Rio Bravo is not as clean and crisp as it is on The Searchers Blu-ray or even The Cowboys. But it's decent enough even if you won't be using it to show off your system.

Worth the buy. If you already own the DVD, you can rent the Blu-ray and watch the special features. If you don't own the DVD, go ahead and buy it. As I write this, the price is only $13.99, so what are you waiting for?